Scale of Iran’s nationwide protests and bloody crackdown come into focus even as internet is out

Iran’s Deadly Crackdown on Dissent Leaves Cities Scarred, Thousands Dead

The bloodiest suppression of protests since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution is gradually becoming visible, despite authorities severing the Islamic Republic from the internet and much of the outside world.

Across Iran, cities and towns bear the scars of recent violence. The acrid smell of smoke hangs in the air as damaged mosques and government offices line streets. Banks stand torched, their ATMs smashed and unusable. According to an Associated Press compilation of reports from the state-run IRNA news agency covering more than 20 cities, officials estimate the damage at a minimum of $125 million.

Human rights organizations report that the death toll of demonstrators continues to rise dramatically. Activists warn that Iranian authorities are employing familiar tactics, but at an unprecedented scale – firing from rooftops into crowds, shooting birdshot at protesters, and deploying motorcycle-riding paramilitary Revolutionary Guard volunteers to beat and detain those unable to escape.

“The vast majority of protesters were peaceful. The video footage shows crowds of people – including children and families – chanting, dancing around bonfires, marching on their streets,” said Raha Bahreini of Amnesty International. “The authorities have opened fire unlawfully.”

The killing of peaceful protesters and threats of mass executions have become a red line for potential military action from U.S. President Donald Trump. American naval forces, including an aircraft carrier, are approaching the Middle East, potentially enabling Trump to launch another attack on Iran following last year’s bombing of its nuclear enrichment facilities. Such action risks igniting a broader regional conflict.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not respond to detailed questions from the Associated Press regarding the crackdown.

The demonstrations began on December 28 at Tehran’s historic Grand Bazaar, initially protesting the collapse of Iran’s currency, the rial, before spreading nationwide. Tensions escalated dramatically on January 8, following calls for demonstrations by Iran’s exiled crown prince, Reza Pahlavi. Witnesses in Tehran told AP reporters that they observed tens of thousands of protesters on the streets before authorities cut internet and phone communications. As digital blackouts spread, gunfire echoed through Tehran’s streets.

“Many witnesses said they had never seen such a large number of protesters on the streets,” said Bahar Saba of Human Rights Watch. “Iranian authorities have repeatedly shown they have no answers other than bullets and brutal repression to people taking to the streets.”

Ali Akbar Pourjamshidian, a deputy interior minister speaking on state television Wednesday, acknowledged the violence intensified on January 8, noting, “More than 400 cities were involved.”

By January 9, Revolutionary Guard General Hossein Yekta, previously identified as leading plainclothes units of the force, appeared on Iranian state television warning parents to keep their children at home. “Tonight you all must be vigilant. Tonight is the night for keeping mosques, all bases everywhere filled with ‘Hezbollahi,'” Yekta said, using a term that refers to fervent supporters of Iran’s theocratic government.

Already weakened by Israel’s 12-day military campaign against Iran in June, authorities apparently decided to employ full-scale violence to end the demonstrations, according to experts.

“I think the regime viewed it as this was a moment of existential threat and that they could either allow it to play out and allow the protests to build and allow foreign powers to increase their rhetoric and increase their demands on Iran,” said Afshon Ostovar, an expert on the Revolutionary Guard and professor at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. “Or they could turn out the lights, kill as many people as necessary… and hope they could get away with it. And I think that’s what they ultimately did.”

In Iran, one of the primary methods the theocracy uses to suppress demonstrations is through the Basij, the volunteer arm of the Revolutionary Guard. Mosques throughout Iran include facilities for the Basij. Guard General Heydar Baba Ahmadi was quoted by the semiofficial Mehr news agency in 2024 as estimating that “79% of Basij resistance bases are located in mosques and 5% in other holy places.”

Videos show Basij members carrying long guns, batons, and pellet guns. Anti-riot police appear in helmets and body armor, armed with assault rifles and submachine guns. Footage reveals security forces firing shotguns into crowds – an action authorities deny despite corpses showing wounds consistent with metal birdshot. Scores of protesters have reportedly suffered blinding eye wounds from birdshot, similar to injuries seen during the 2022 protests following Mahsa Amini’s death.

Iran’s semiofficial ILNA news agency reported that Tehran’s Farabi Eye Hospital, the country’s premier facility for eye injuries, called in “all current and retired doctors” to assist the wounded.

For two weeks, Iran offered no overall casualty figures. Then on Wednesday, the government announced 3,117 people were killed, including 2,427 civilians and security forces. Pourjamshidian classified the remaining 690 dead as “terrorists.”

These figures conflict with those from the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which on Saturday placed the death toll at 5,137, based on activists inside Iran verifying fatalities against public records and witness statements. The agency reported 4,834 were demonstrators, 208 were government-affiliated personnel, 54 were children, and 41 were civilians not participating in protests.

Death tolls in Iran have historically been manipulated for political purposes. However, the fact that Iran’s theocracy offered any figure – and one that exceeds any previous political unrest in the country’s modern history – underscores the scale of the violence. It also provides justification for the ongoing mass arrest campaign and internet shutdown, with state media reporting dozens to hundreds of detentions daily.

Uncertainty now looms for Iran’s leadership regarding potential U.S. action. Traditionally, Iranians hold memorial services 40 days after deaths, meaning the country could face renewed demonstrations around February 17. Videos from Behesht-e Zahra, the massive cemetery outside Tehran, show mourners chanting: “Death to Khamenei!”

Satellite photos analyzed by the AP reveal large numbers of cars daily at the southern reaches of Behesht-e Zahra, where those killed in the demonstrations are being buried.

Elaheh Mohammadi, a journalist at Tehran’s pro-reform newspaper Ham Mihan, recently noted the publication had been shut down by authorities. She said journalists had been working on stories about Behesht-e Zahra they weren’t permitted to publish.

“We send out a message to let people know we’re still alive,” Mohammadi wrote online. “The city smells of death. Hard days have passed and everyone is stunned; a whole country is in mourning, a whole country is holding back tears, a whole country has a lump in its throat.”